2017 has arrived! I (only a little begrudgingly) stayed up until midnight to see in the New Year, and after the big moment, I immediately crawled into bed where I pondered what I wanted this year to be. 2016 was filled with heartbreak, and a lot of people are looking to 2017 to bring hope, joy, and renewal to their lives. Let me be honest with you--I think celebrating the New Year as fresh start is kind of hokey. I don't believe in waiting until the New Year to better yourself, and I definitely don't believe that 2017 is going to be drastically different than 2016 in terms of disappointment and heartache.

Now, I know that I'm sounding a bit skeptical of the promise of a New Year, but I'm definitely not skeptical of the promises of God. I need to tell you right now that 2017 might not be "your year." It might not be anyone's year, or it might rock for everyone but you. If I've popped your 2017 bubble, let me give you some truth straight from the Word of God.

For He knows the way that I take, and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as pure gold.

— Job 23:10

That is my favorite verse in scripture. Job 23:10 has comforted me in the darkest, most trying times throughout my life and has given me hope for the future. Right now, it's easy to look forward to the rest of the year full of promise and hope, but when the going gets tough, the promises and hope created by man will fade; the Lord will endure and will carry you.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

— Isaiah 40:8

I think it's easy to get caught up in the New Year in January, but when March rolls around, I've seen a lot of disappointment. When life gets tough or when we fail ourselves by letting resolutions go, I hope to remember the promises of our Lord. Trials refine us, and the Lord sustains us.